Hello everyone... OK let me first say that I am trying to get out of subprime hell.... I will tell u what I had.. Providian, aria, associates, fbnb, and kmart by cap1.. I got rid of all of them, but I still have cap one gold with a 800 limit. I also wanna say that cap one is deceptive.. I got a mailing from them saying I was approved for a platnum card.. I returned the mailing and low and behold, I recieve another cap one gold card in the mail. I called them and they said it depends on my credit rating...So I told them not to activate it as I dont need it.... anyway, onto the real story.. I recieved a Chase secured card which I am happy about, also an HSBC secured card... also a NY area bank as I live in NY.. I also Seen a Bank of America notice on this board and I know they are also a big bank down south.. So I went to there site printed an application and sent it in with 300....They cashed my check so I hope Im approved.. I also noticed the small print on there secured card site which stated 250-4,999 is gold and 5,000 and up is platnum.. I think thats a good deal.. GOLD card from a pretty well know bank... Let me know what u think people and thank u for telling me about bank of america ....also, when i get this card.. I am gonna scrap cap one for there deceptive practices.. My 800 limit card will be paid off and i am cutting it up and throwing it in the garbage....thanks and have a nice day... Mike
I'm not sure about BofA as a creditor - however as a bank, they suck. They "lost" 1/2 of my deposit (a check) & didn't notify me, I found out when I had 4 checks bounce - ended up costing me $80 or so. I went into the bank & they wouldn't reverse the fees so I closed my account. So, I sure hope BofA doesn't "lose" your payments.
Smart! Good luck with B of A - actually, they started out a the big bank on the west coast, recently bought some banks in our (southeast/midatlantic) region. I helped my Mom get their Platinum - their service has been excellent. The website is medium good - they're new at it
My husband e-mailed them. He used to have an account with them that he closed a couple of years before we filed BK. Perfect history. He contacted them to see if he could get a secured Visa card since all of his sub-prime offers have been for a MC. They sent back a letter stating they would not approved a secured account with a BK on record. He called them back perplexed that they would not open a secured account BK or not. The account is SECURED, duh. He even told them he had an account with them in the past and to look up the history. Their response to him was to come into the bank. This is a little hard to do when they pulled out of IL three years ago. He was not happy about their customer service during the call. If anyone has gotten this card post BK, I would like to know. Wrote a PFB letter, no response.
Well, here's my input on B of A. I called their local office (they're in Kansas as well) and told them I was interested in a secured card. I think the rep was CLUELESS about it, but she started reciting the standard speech and said we could do an application over the phone. So she starts giving me 20 questions, and I asked if "all this was necessary for their secured card?" Yes she said. What I thought was kind of funny was that the rep asked what I'd like to secure the account with? Cash was what people usually use I told her, but the smart ass in me couldn't help but say "although I do have an extra dog around the place if I have a choice." The rep informed me she would have a 'banker' call me back. But they did ask if I'd prefer a master card or visa. I'll post a follow up if I find out anything interesting...
I called about this card over a year ago -- It reports as secured. I'm not sure how that impacts your score, but I'm sure it does.
Hey Dan-Please let us know what happens. Perhaps maybe the rep my husband spoke to was clueless as well. Maybe we should take a weekend drive to Kansas to stop at BOA. LOL I can't see the sense in not opening a card with a prior BK if you are pledging money to guarantee it. What's even stranger is if you had an account with them in the past and never screwed them, why could you not get a secured card. BTW I think they even have the secured app. online. They told my husband they could not mail an app. to him. Really bizarre. You think they would have mentioned that or asked if he wanted to apply over the phone.
I heard back from the lady at BofA yesterday. You must be right about them not mailing the application to you, because they took mine over the phone, and said to bring in the amount I intended to use for the deposit, as the only address they had to send it was an internal address in AZ, whatever that means... here are some specifics: (THIS IS NOT GEORGE!) NO APPLICATION FEE, $29 ANNUAL FEE QUALIFY WITH ONLY $250! DEPOSIT ANY AMOUNT BETWEEN $250 AND $10,000, IN $50 INCREMENTS. (250-4999 FOR GOLD CARD, OR 5000-10000 FOR PLATINUM) VARIABLE ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE, CURRENTLY 17.49% Oh, but wait just a minute...on the back, and no one mentioned anything to me: Apply now if you....are at least 18, have a US address, have a social security number OR a work visa, have paid your previous BofA obligations as agreed, will open a BofA savings account with at least $250 AND HAVE NEVER FILED BANKRUPTCY ??!! WTF? Well, there's that answer...
See Dan. I thought so. If you have paid your prior BoA accounts and kept them in good standing and are securing the credit card with a security deposit, why does it matter if you ever filed bankruptcy or not? They say nothing about giving you a line of unsecured above your deposit. Also, if they have online banking (I am pretty sure they do) why can't you open the savings account online? All they have to do is put a hold on the amount of funds in the account that become your credit line. So are you going to take a vacation trip to make it into their office (if there is not a local branch)? Or did you trash the app when it came to the BK part? Thanks for the update.
I'll have to call the nice lady up on Monday and see what she has to say...although it looks pretty clear cut. Heck, I can't even buy a report right now(online) to check my score as I don't have a credit card. I'm glad I caught that before I sent them my money, as it says: FILL OUT THIS APPLICATION AND BRING IT TO ANY BANK OF AMERICA BANKING CENTER WITH YOUR CHECK OR MONEY ORDER FOR YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT. IF APPROVED, YOUR NEW BofA SECURED CREDIT CARD WILL BE SENT TO YOU WITHIN A FEW WEEKS. (From the fine print: NO portion of Deposit Account, including any interest earned, will be available to you or may be used to secure other loans.)
